Oklahoma

Every person who is guilty of the detestable and abominable crime against
nature, committed with mankind or with a beast, is punishable by
imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding ten (10) years.

History

A 1977 effort to repeal sodomy laws was met with a vote-delaying "chorus of
giggles."

In 1986, Post v. the State of Oklahoma the state Supreme Court struck down the
law as it applies to heterosexuals, noting it had not addressed the issue of same sex
relationships.

Oklahoma amended its sodomy law four times between 1992 and 1999. In 1999,
the maximum penalty was raised from 10 to 20 years. It was reduced again in
2002 to 10 years.

1890Oklahoma’s
first criminal code makes explicit that married couples can be prosecuted
for marital sodomy.

1935An
Oklahoma appellate court becomes the first court in the nation to rule that
an act of cunnilingus is a “crime against nature.”

1986The
Court of Criminal Appeals rules that the state’s sodomy law can be applied
constitutionally to people of the opposite sex. In 1988, another court rules
that the decision applies to “consenting adults,” apparently regardless
of gender. Just two weeks later, the same court clarifies that it is
applicable only to “consensual, heterosexual” activity.

1988Oklahoma
enacts a state RICO law that applies to businesses involved in criminal
activity, including sodomy. This apparently can be used against bath houses.

Legal

City of Oklahoma City v. Sawatzky, 1996
During the summer of 1994, an Oklahoma City police officer invited a young man to come
back to his hotel room with him. When the man accepted, he was arrested for soliciting
sodomy. The ACLU of Oklahoma defended the man in
municipal court, which issued a guilty verdict.

The Oklahoma affiliate challenged the verdict and the State's anti-sodomy statute in
the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which had previously held that the law was an
unconstitutional violation of the right to privacy as it applied to heterosexuals. ACLU's
cooperating attorney Mark Henricksen argued the case before the Court of Criminal Appeals
in August of 1995 and attempted to convince the Court that the right to privacy applies to
all Oklahomans, regardless of sexual orientation. In November of 1995, the Court issued a
ruling that refused to address the sodomy statute but upheld the client's municipal court
conviction based on the government's interest in regulating sexual speech in public
places.

With the help of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, the Oklahoma affiliate of the ACLU
filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. In April of 1996, the Supreme Court declined
to hear the appeal without comment.